Rajya Sabha elections: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana on Wednesday nominated Vaddiraju Ravichandra as the party candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat from the state for the second term. Ravichandra is scheduled to file his nomination on Thursday.
According to a release from the BRS, the party president and former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao finalised Ravichandra's candidature after discussions with party leaders.
"BRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao declared Vaddiraju Ravichandra as the party's candidate for the Rajya Sabha. The decision was made after discussions with senior party members and leaders. As per the directives of the leadership, Ravichandra will file his nomination for the Rajya Sabha candidacy tomorrow (February 15th)," the party said in an X post.
With three seats available from Telangana, the BRS, with its 39 MLAs in the House of 119, is positioned to secure one seat.
Meanwhile, the ruling Congress in Telangana has nominated former Union Minister Renuka Choudhary and M Anil Kumar Yadav, a Youth Congress leader, for the Rajya Sabha poll. Anil Kumar Yadav is the son of former Congress MP Anjan Kumar Yadav.
Rajya Sabha elections
The Election Commission announced the date for 56 Rajya Sabha seats in 15 states. The elections will take place on February 27 and the votes will be counted on the same day. The term of office of 56 members are due to expire on their retirement in April 2024.
According to the Election Commission's letter, nominations will start from February 8. The last date for nomination for Rajya Sabha elections is February 15. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on February 16. The last date for withdrawal of nominations has been kept as February 20. Voting will take place on February 27 between 9 am and 4 pm and counting of votes will take place on the same day at 5 pm.
Number of seats on which elections will be held in the 15 states:
Andhra Pradesh: 3, Bihar: 6, Chhattisgarh: 1, Gujarat: 4, Haryana: 1, Himachal Pradesh: 1, Karnataka: 4, Madhya Pradesh: 5, Maharashtra: 6, Telangana: 3, Uttar Pradesh: 10, Uttarakhand: 1, West Bengal: 5, Odisha: 3, and Rajasthan: 3.
As of the current composition of the Rajya Sabha, there are 238 elected representatives. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds the highest number of seats with 93, followed by the Congress party with 30 seats. Other significant parties include the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with 13 seats, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with 10 seats, and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) with 10 seats, among others.
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